This is from a pilot!
I think it is actually shorter to go from Mcfaulds to Nakina. From there the highway goes to Timmins as I'm sure you know. There is also less water ie. lakes and rivers to cross if you go south and east as opposed to south and west.
This email is from googleye. He is a pilot who flies the largest cargo plane in the Mcfaulds area. He flies out of Pickle Crow and in to Webiquei. He can see the rigs from the air. A birds eye view. He has flown all over Mcfaulds. This is why he knows there is no heavy equipment up there. If there was any, he would have moved it in all probability.
I would suggest a reread of his posts as they are informative.
He posts on this forum so we should be thankful to have him here.